Improvement in blind-slat adjusters



o. L. HouGHoN.v Improvement in XBlind-Slat Adjusters.

No. 132,581. Patented ocr; 29, 1872.

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Improvement in Blind-Slat'Adjusters. No. 132,581.. Patented om. 29,1872,

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OLIVER L. HOUGHTON, OF HOLDEN, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN BLIND-SLAT A DJUSTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,5@19 dated October 29, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER L. HOUGHTON, of Holden, in the county of Johnson and State of4 Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Blind-Slat Adjuster, of which the following is a speciiication:

My invention consists of a coiled spring connected to one of the slats for turning them up, all the slats being connected together with a ratchet-disk on the lower slat, and a catch pivoted on the lower cross-piece of the blind to hold the slats open; or, instead of the disk and catch, I propose in some cases to. have a hasp with a knob hinged to the lower slat, and a catch-plate attached to the cross-piece below, for pulling the slats down, and fastening them down by a pin on the hasp entering a hole in the catch-plate, all as hereinafter described.

Figure lis a front elevation of a windowblind provided with my improved sash-adjusting devices, a part of thev stile in which the spring is concealed being sectioned. Fig. 2 is' a section taken on the line g/ y of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a front elevation similar to Fig. 1, showing the hasp pivoted to the slat and the catchplate on the crosspiece oI" the blind. Fig. 4 is a section on the line a' a: of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The lower slat A (or it may be any other) is provided with a strong `journal, B, formed on aplate attached to the slat and projecting into a large deep metal-cased socket, D, inthe Vstile of the blind, and a coiled spring, E, is

combined with this journal, so as to have a consta-nt tendency to throw the slats up, all being connected together by a rod, G, or by the same and a rod, H, or any other suitable means. To this slat A or the plate O upon it a ratchet-disk, A', is attached, and a catch,

B', with a thumb-piece, C, is pivoted to they lower cross-bar of the blind, so as to engage the disk and hold the blinds open. A spring, D, throws .the catch into the notches of the disk. Instead oi' this ratchet and catch I propose in some cases to have a hasp or catchbar, I, with a knob, K, hinged, as shown at L, to the slat, so as to hang down by the side of the cross -piece of the blind, on which is a catch plate, M, with holes at suitable distances apart, for fastening the catch I by a stud-pin, N attached to it, so that the slats may be fastened open more or less, as preferred. The catcliplate M is raised above the surface of the stile so as to allow the pin to enter the holes without interfering with the Wood. The plate is also made to project outwardly far enough for the catch or hasp to engage with it properly when the upper end is hinged to the outer edge of the stile, which is a more preferable arrangement th an if attached to the slat nearer to the center to avoid such projection of the said catch-plate, for in that case the leverage of the catch would be so much lessened that the labor of shifting the slats would be considerably increased.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the plate C, journal B, spring E, ratchet A, and catch C with the lower blind-slat and the lower cross-piece, all the slats being connected together, and the journal and spring arranged in a socket in one of the blind-Stiles, all substantially as speciied.

OLIVER L. HOUGHTON.

Witnesses WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS, JoNAs HoUeH'roN. 

